India seeks
info on Bt
Brinjal

Our Correspondent
15 October, 2018 12:00 AM

NEW DELHI: The government of India has sought to obtain information from Bangladesh as to whether Bt Brinjal is safe for human health and environment.

The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) in the Union Environment Ministry of India has decided to write to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) “to obtain relevant information and data on the post commercial release effects of the genetically modified (GM) vegetable, Bt Brinjal, from Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI)”. It is being grown by Bangladeshi farmers since 2013.

The then Congress-led UPA government imposed a ban on the cultivation of Bt Brinjal.

Besides, the ICAR’s Indian Institute of Horticultural Research in Bengaluru will be directed “to undertake an independent scientific study on the post release effect of Bt Brinjal”, according to minutes of a meeting of the official regulator late last month for trials and commercialisation of GM crops.